Dump car construction



Aug. 13, 1946. F. HOELZGE N 2,495,596

DUMP CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 21, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' FIGS.

INVENTOR. FRED HOELZEN A TTORNE Y Aug. 13, 1946. Y F. HOELZGEN 2,405,696

DUMP CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 21, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet? FIG .4.

1 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 13, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DUMP CAR CONSTRUCTION Fred Hoelzgen, Saginaw, Mich.

Application August 21, 1944, Serial No. 550,391

3 Claims. (01. 105-253) This invention relates to railway cars of the hopper-bottomed dump type, as commonly used for hauling and transporting coal. In the use of such cars experience proves that when the hopper doors are opened, a certain amount of coal immediately at the door opening will be discharged by gravity, but for the reason that the slope of the hopper bottom in the usual car of this type is not steep enough to cause the coal to slide out by gravity alone, the balance of the coal at the opening will jam up or arch over, which jam or arch must be broken up and the coal forming the same must be released and assisted down through the discharge hopper by inserting crow bars or other implements up through the open hopper doors and poking or raking the coal for breaking same loose. Furthermore such jams will be frequently repeated in the process of unloading a car. Another method of loosening such jams, as frequently resorted to, is to pound upon the sides of the car with hammers or other tools, and as these cars are generally constructed of sheet metal or steel, the result is that the cars are dented, pitted, scarred or stove in, and thus seriously damaged by such operations. On the other hand it is extremely inconvenient and dirty Work for a man to get below an open hopper door for the purpose of inserting implements up through the same, for the purpose of loosening a coal jam or arch. 7

It is the primary purpose of the present invention therefore, to provide handy and convenient means, incorporated upon the car, for breaking up coal jams of the kind referred to, as same form at the hopper doors, and thus freeing the coal and facilitating its discharge through the hopper doors.

A further object of the invention is to provide a hopper-bottomed or dump type of railway car of the kind referred to, formed with tool ports or doors upon the sides thereof, and through which suitable tools or implements may be inserted for breaking up coal jams as formed therein in the process of unloading coal therefrom, and thus facilitating the unloading of the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a hopper bottomed or dump type of railway car of the kind referred to, the bottoms of the hoppers thereof sloping from either end of the car inwardly and downwardly towards the center thereof, th said hoppers being provided at their inner and lower ends with discharge doors hinged at their upper margins to the under side of the car body or frame, ovate openings, doors or ports formed through the sides of the car at each end 2 thereof, with the long axes of these doors or ports extended parallel with the slopes of the hopper bottoms at each end of the car, correspondingly shaped gates of larger superficial dimensions than the said ovate openings pivotally supported at one end to themargins of the upper ends of the aid ovate openings and adapted to close downwardly thereover, and latches on the margins of the lower ends of the openings adapt- 10 ed to releasably engage the free ends of the gates in their closed positions.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a hopper bottomed or dump type of railway car of the kind referred to, the bottoms of the hoppers thereof sloping from either end of the car inwardly and downwardly towards their centrally located discharge doors, ovate ports, doors or openings formed through the sides of the car in spaced relation to the ends thereof with their long axes extended parallel with the slopes of the hopper bottoms, flat frames mounted over the outer sides of these ports or openings and secured to the margins thereof, the said frames being formed with ovate ports or openings axially aligned with the ports or openings through the sides of the car and with the margins of the ovate openings of the frame overlying the margins of the'ovate openings through the sides of the car, ovately elongated'gates of larger superficial dimensions than the openings of the frames, pivotally supported at one end to the margins of the upper ends of the openings of the frames and arranged to close by gravity downwardly thereover, and means at the lower ends of the openings to releasably engage the free ends of the gates in their closed positions.

With the stated objects in view, together with such other and additional objects and advantages as may appear from the specification and defined scale, showing a fragment of a side of a car of the type referred to, the same being formed with an ovately elongated port, door or opening in accordance with this invention, and being closable by means of a similarly shaped gate pivotally supin the claims, attention is directed to the accom- Figure 3 is a detail-view on a greatly enlarged seated upon the lower and inner margins of the ports 16, at the ends thereof, these keepers opening upwardly and bein thus adapted for engaging the axially extended tabs 22 as integrally 5 formed at the lower and inner ends of the gates H. Finger holds or grips 23 are provided at the free ends of the gates I! for facilitating raising or lowering the same. These holds or grips may be integrally formed from the stock of the gates .bymerelyfolding up-tab-or ear portions thereof frame or frames for positioning over the open-- ings through the sides of the car, the irame-being formed with a corresponding opening adapted to register therewith and carrying thereon the gate for closing over the said opening .or openas cut from the stock,and*as'shown inFigure 5, or they may be separately formed and secured in place by rivets or other conventional manner. Similar keepers 24 are similarly secured upon the sides 6 of the car, upwardly above the margins of ings as formed through theframes andt'he sides' of the car.

Figure 9 is a section Jon the line 99 of Figure-8.

EFigJlE-BTIOiS aisection onathe line ill-'10 ofFig- 1.11 918- flhis :invention is designed .for incorporation -andvuse uponanytconventional form or type of hopper-railway car, such as the hopper-bottomed car-shown {generally-at 51in the drawings, and which includes :the verticaLsides 6 andends 'l, the medially disposed r and horizontal bottom portion :8, thesloping hoppersd'whichslope inwardly and downwardly from each end ltowardsthe medial floors-portion :82and below the same nto'iorm'the rdischarge doors or openings ill, the hopper doors H hingedattheir uppermargins as at E2 transversely-lto the under sides of the-medial-floor 8 land'at theends thereoithevertically and ionigitudinally extended'reinforcing'and dividing rib 4 3 which separate the transversely aligned dis- --vcharge doors-oropenings @IO, and which at their aends-are angularly abutted against and joined to ethersloping-bottoms of the hoppers andto the sloping outerl-sides-of thetriangularshaped and transversely extended :slide members 1 3, .as r indicated at 15, these members .14 being seated at thelends.of the medial bottom or floor 1,8 :and setoured thereto-in conventional manner.

In practising this invention and incorporating thesame upon ra-hopper car of thetype'above described, ovately elongated openings, doors or ,ports :i6.-are formedthrough the sides -6 of thecarintransverse alignmentat each end thereon-medial;- 'ly oftand slightly above the sloping bottoms 9 of lthe hoppers,;and'with'the long or major axes of the openings-extended ,in parallelism with the .saidsloping bottoms. I

As shown in Figures 1 to "7, flat and ovatel-y elongated gates 1! are provided, the same 'being ofsomewhatlarger overall dimensions than the openings orlports Hiand so as marginally to overla the same, ,atrone -end .to-the upper and outer ends of the margins of the ports Hi, by means of bolts 18 passed outwardly through the said margins, the heads of the bolts'being welded'in place, and the fthreaded ends of .the bolts passed freely through-1 theupper and outer ends of the ports (6, and are located slightly outward of a vertical line passed throughthe pivotbolts I3. Thus these keepers 24 areiadapted to slidably engage the tabs 22 at the free ends of the gates as same are raised and Thesegates are pivotally secured \opened vertically,-.and owing to the positioning of the keepers 12 3 slightly outward ofthe vertical lines as-passedlthrough theopposite and'pivoted ends of the gates, these gates will when thus raised, remain inltheir openedpositions through gravity, but if they are inadvertently left open the ,jarand ,jerk of .thecar in starting will serve 'toijolt them free of the upper-keepers 2'4,and they will thenlfall close'dby'gravity. In the construcltionudescribed,.themargins of the ports or'open- ,.ings Iii-may belrounded off .asindicated in the drawing, .in-order to facilitate the manipulation of tools and implements through these ports in .mannerlaterto =be described, and if desiredthese 135 .margins may alsobe reinforcedand strengthened linany-conventional .manner, asby collars (not shown) welded inplace upon the inner faces of the said margins,

In the modified formrof construction shown in 1 uresBtollO, the gates lla instead of being pivplates. icomplementary ports ior openings lfib .are formed in .the lower and inner ends of these uplatesrandeare adapted-to register with the ports Mia. But in forming itheseports inthe plates, they vare imade substantially smaller than the 350 openings or ports through the sides of the car,

thus providing overlapping .margins which are then turned over inwardly, through the openings tea, and are pressed down upon and around the margins of .these openings at the :inner sides thereof as indicated atlfia, thus-not only secure- .ly locking-theirarnes or :platesi fi in place but in addition providing thickened and niceiyrounded margins.attheseopenings for facilitating the working .of .tools andvimplements therethrough, in mannerrtobedescribed. Before these frames .are mounted upon the .car however, the gates Ila arepivoted atoneend by means of-bolts l8a to the .upperand(outer-margins of the ports I 6b, in .the sarnemanneras for the previously described structuresof Figures-1 to :7. Similarly keepers 21a andfita are mounted upon thevlower and upper lendsrespective'ly of theiframes or plates ,2-5, which are suiiiciently elongated upwardly for the'pur- .,pos e, and these keepers are adapted to slidably 7o engage the axiall-yeextended tabs 22a of thegates theiree ends'of the gateslla.

In the use of a hopper bottomed car of the type as described, or of any similar type, the gated openings or ports as described provide very handy and convenient means for access to the interior of the car, in the process of unloading coal or other loose materials therefrom, for the purpose of inserting crow bars or other implements through the openings for breaking up jams and arches as commonly form at the hopper doors of such cars in the process of unloading coal. The ovately elongated form of port or opening as here shown and described is thought to be the best form and best adapted for the purpose described, for the reason that such opening will permit the working and manipulation of tools or implements in every direction through the interior of the hopper, for the purpose of dislodging and breaking up jams or arches as above referred to. However any other form of port or opening through the side of the car might be employed and used, as thought desirable, without departing from the spirit of the invention. By providing the separate frame or plate for carrying the gate as pivotally mounted thereon, and the keepers and hand hold as mounted thereon, this equipment may be mounted upon any car, whether old or new, by merely cutting suitable ports or openings as described through the sides thereof to register with the openings of the frames. frames or plates may be spot welded to the sides of the car, the lower ends thereof being firmly locked in place through the expedient as described of turning th margins of the openings inwardly and down upon the inner faces of the margins of the openings through the sides of the car.

And while I have here shown and described certain embodiments of the invention, and shecific structural features thereof, it is to be understood that the features as shown may be changed or modified as desired, within the scope of the claims.

In such use the upper ends of the a 6 I claim: 1. In a hopper car having a hopper therein sloping downwardly to a discharge door and having an ovately elongated tool passing port formed through the side of the car over the hopper thereof, the major axis of this port being extended in parallelism with the slope of the hopper bottom, a flat and elongated plate mounted over the outer side of the port, th inner and lower end of the plate being formed with a port therethrough in registry with the port of the car, and a closure element movably supported at one end upon the upper and outer end of the said plate and adapted to close downward over the ports of the plate and car.

2. In a structure according to claim 1, means upon the upper and outer end of the plate for releasably enga n the free end of the closure element when same is in raised position for opening the ports, and means for releasably latching the closure element in closed position.

3. In a hopper car formed with a hopper therein sloping downwardly to a discharge door and having an ovately elongated port formed through a side of the car over the hopper thereof, the major axis of the port being extended in substantial parallelism with the bottom of the hopper, a complementally elongated gate dimensioned to marginally overlap the margins of the port at the outer side thereof, the said gate being pivotally mounted at one end to the margin of the upper end of the said port, complemental latch members upon the opposite end of the gat and opposite end margin of the port for releasably holding the gate closed, a stop on the side of the car above the point of pivotal connection of the gate therewith and outwardly of a vertical line extended from said point of pivotal connection of the gate, said stop being arranged and adapted to engage the free end of the gate when raised vertically, to support the gate in opened position.

FRED HOELZGEN. 

